mchen@heraldsun.com; 419-6636
DURHAM -- The unemployment rate in Durham County dropped slightly to 7.9 percent in November, reflecting 11,083 people unemployed who are looking for jobs.
That figure is more than double the jobless rate of two years ago, during the pre-recession days of November 2007, and is more than two percentage points above the unemployment rate of November 2008.
Still, Durham fared better than much of the state.
Unemployment rates increased in 60 of North Carolina's 100 counties in November, according to figures released by the N.C. Employment Security Commission on Tuesday.
"Many of the state's counties experienced a small change in their unemployment rates," said ESC Chairman Moses Carey Jr. "We continue to assist job seekers and those customers looking to apply for unemployment insurance. Help has arrived in the form of another extension of benefits and we have begun paying out those funds to eligible participants."
Orange County had the lowest unemployment rate in the state, at 6.3 percent. Wake County posted a jobless rate of 8.3 percent, unchanged from October.
The Durham Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Durham, Orange, Chatham and Person counties, had the lowest unemployment rate of all metros in North Carolina, at 7.6 percent.
Larry Parker, a spokesman for the ESC, repeated the oft-heard refrain that the diversity of businesses in the Triangle has benefited workers in the area during this recession.
Statewide, Parker said, "We've seen a slowing down of the bigger layoffs and certainly, unfortunately, there are still some."
New regular initial claims totaled 44,479 statewide for November, increasing 4,694 from the previous month. Twenty-three percent of these were attached initial claims. That's somewhat of an improvement from a year ago, in November 2008, when initial claims totaled 49,775, 28 percent of which were attached.
As for Durham County, Parker noted that there has been a decrease in the labor force from a year ago as well as from October to November.
In November 2008, there were 141,346 people in the labor force, with 133,503 employed and 7,843 people who were unemployed. The ESC defines "unemployed" by those who are without jobs and still looking.
By this past November, the labor force shrank to 140,318 workers, with 129,235 people employed and 11,083 people unemployed.
"There are 3,240 more people unemployed than this time last year," Parker said.
The state's unemployment rate was 10.8 percent for November. Edgecombe County had the highest unemployment rate, at 16.6 percent.
